Ronald E. Wheeler Named Director Of Fineman and Pappas Law Libraries

Librarian joins BU Law after heading law libraries at Suffolk and University of San Francisco.

Boston University School of Law has appointed Ronald E. Wheeler to serve as director of its Fineman and Pappas Law Libraries and associate professor of law & legal research, effective January 1, 2016. Wheeler joins BU Law from Suffolk University Law School, where he was director of the Moakley Law Library and associate professor of legal research. He replaces Marlene Alderman, who has served as library director since 2007 and is retiring after a 32-year career at BU Law.

“I am honored to have been chosen to lead the Fineman and Pappas Law Libraries into what I believe will be the exciting and change-laden future of academic law libraries,” Wheeler says. “As technology forces changes to the way law is practiced, partnering with Dean [Maureen] O’Rourke and the BU School of Law faculty to prepare excellent lawyers for this dynamic new employment arena is a dream come true.”

At Suffolk, Wheeler supervised all aspects of the law library’s operations, including personnel management, budgeting, collection development, planning and provision of library services, library facilities maintenance and management, and implementation of technology. He also taught upper-division legal research courses and seminars.

“We are delighted to welcome such a talented and experienced library director to head our Fineman and Pappas Law Libraries,” says BU Law Dean Maureen A. O’Rourke. “Ron brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep understanding of the changing and critical role of law libraries in legal education and scholarship. We look forward to his leading our libraries deeper into the 21st century with a vision that embraces new technologies and the challenges and opportunities they bring to traditional librarianship.”

Prior to joining Suffolk, Wheeler served as director of the Dorraine Zief Law Library at the University of San Francisco from 2010 to 2014. He also held law librarian positions at Georgia State University and the University of New Mexico. Wheeler has a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, a master’s degree in library and information science from Wayne State University, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He is also the president-elect of the American Association of Law Libraries.

The Samuel M. Fineman Law Library is a brand new 21,000-square-foot facility that opened last year on the second and third floors of BU Law’s Sumner M. Redstone Building, alongside the law school’s existing Pappas Law Library.